Three Universes Away From Home
by WeebEli
Summary: When Sawako was young, she dreamed of worlds where she could fly or she could teleport to a beautiful garden of her own. Those dreams didn't prepare her for reality. When a universe traveling goddess enters her home, along with several others, her 16 year old self learns how to handle others, and her own past, now that they can no longer return. T for language and sensitive topics.
1. Chapter 1

"Stupid cat."

"I'm not stupid!"

Tohru sat at the kotatsu as Yuki and Kyou fought. Their bickering had made Shigure move them outside, commenting about his house being broken enough that week. The two boys grew up hateful of each other. In fact, it was admirable their squabble over Kyou's pickiness of that morning's breakfast that had the two outside. Tohru hadn't known that the cat hated miso, if not in soup form, and served it, much to his dismay.

She watched with a blank look on her face, half spaced out. She didn't notice the half German Souma approach the house, or heard him walk in, until Momiji burst into the open area of the kitchen and dining area.

"Guten tag!"

Tohru, startled, jumped a few inches, then turned with her hand on the back of her head, the voices outside becoming background noise as usual. Shigure, who had been sitting at one end of the table, reading as he ate, greeted the young looking boy.

"Good morning, Momiji. What brings you here?"

"I wanted to spend the day off with Tohru-kun," the boy replied cheerfully, hopping down onto the floor and scooting up next to her. She turned, following his movement with her eyes, smiling, before finishing the small amount of food on her plate. A loud crash echoed through the house as Yuki sent Kyou flying over the fish pond onto the ground. The older of the two then came back into the house and sat down to eat his breakfast as insults were hurled at him.

* * *

She looked around the woods. Having known her land fairly well, this strange landscape before her held a mysterious air to it, especially after hearing the crash that sounded throughout the trees.

The purple girl then heard faint yelling coming from her left. She decided to find the source, and wandered off in that direction, when it stopped. Making sure she stayed on track to locate it, she dodged trees and bushes, continuing her trek. Two other figures weren't far off from her. A brunette with a hair tie that looked like green leaves, and a taller, older looking version of the purple haired girl, were trailing. A girl with long black hair in twin tails was walking alongside the other girl who had two D-Pad style clips in her hair, hearing the same noise cut off.

"Neptune, where are you going?" The brunette had not heard what the two in front had, and was confused at their sudden detour.

"I heard someone, Iffy!" Neptune responded very enthusiastically, looking quite excited for someone who was lost.

"There's a voice off in this direction, IF. I heard it as well. We should investigate it."

IF nodded before turning her head to face the girl to her right. "Hear that, Nepgear?"

Nepgear nodded. "Nee-chan? Do you think we are close?"

Neptune continued walking forward, but called back to her younger sister. "Fear not, Nep Jr! Your trusty old Neptune will lead us to the mysterious game flag raising voice!"

"Neptune, focus!" The twin tail girl hit Neptune on the head with a chop from her hand.

"Owie, Noire."

"Let's just hurry up." Noire seemed annoyed, but not entirely, as she came closer to the source of the voice.

They emerged onto a dirt road that seemed well worn, and went to the left once they heard the same voice start up again. At the end of the road there was a small, traditional style Japanese house set in the woods. Neptune bounded off ahead, as Noire just sighed and IF shook her head. Nepgear gave a small smile at her sister's seemingly endless supply of energy.

Neptune reached the home in no time. Shouting continued to come out from behind the door and now closed dining room doors. The CPU goddess paused, before knocking on the front door. "Anyone home?" She thought it was a nice addition, despite the loud voices. Someone opened the door after a few seconds, and the voice became louder as the source rounded the corner.

"Don't run away from me, you damn rat!"

"We have a visitor. Unless, of course, you're blind?"

Neptune looked between the two tentatively as the other three from her party came up to the entrance. The grey haired boy stared at the four of them, surprised by their loud fashion statements.

Neptune waved her hand in front of his face after a few seconds of this, while the other boy behind him just looked on openmouthed. "Anybody in there?"

He closed his eyes, blinking, then introduced himself. "Hello. I'm Yuki Souma. What brings you four here?"

"Huuuuh?!"

The orange haired one behind Yuki then stormed up to the door. "What are they doing here?"

"That's what I was asking, stupid." He left off the cat part, now in mixed company.

"Hiya! I'm Neptune, CPU of Planeptune!" Neptune stuck her hand out, and Yuki took it, shaking it. His face had confusion written all over it as the other just walked back, utterly appalled by the short girl's apparent lack of brain cells.

Noire piped up from her side. "I'm sorry. We just came for directions. Stupid Neptune got us lost on the way to Leanbox."

"Hey!"

A blonde boy emerged from the left of the entrance hall to check out and see what was going on. He peered at the interesting group, wanting to talk to them. To his satisfaction, Neptune beckoned him forward, and he moved to the side of Yuki as Neptune's eyes lit up.

"He's so cute! Iffy, can we keep him?" She rushed forward and grabbed Momiji, wrapping her arms tightly, until smoke burst out and her arms snapped closer onto a much smaller body.

"Neptune! What did you do to him?!" Noire shouted at him as the orange haired boy appeared to investigate, along with a taller black haired male and a teen girl with brown hair.

"I don't know!" Neptune cried out as Yuki watched it all transpire, mouth agape. The smoke cleared to reveal Neptune, on her knees, with a bunny ini her arm. "Hey, look! The young boy became a bunny! He's so cute! I told you a game flag was raised by his yelling!" She pointed then at the other highschool boy, who then rounded on her with a curse.

IF had her head in her hands. "Neptune, why do weird things always happen around you?"

"Because I'm the protagonist right now!"

None of the denizens of the house replied to any of this. They were all still in shock.

The new girl approached the group wearily, urging them to calm down. But Neptune was still ecstatic about her new discovery of the boy gone bunny. She then had an idea, and dropped the bunny to the floor, letting him bound away to safety, and grabbed onto Kyou, who had came up to her to chew her out. He also disappeared in an explosion of coloured smoke, and when it cleared, a cat was revealed. Neptune stood up straight, turned on her heel, and held him out to Nepgear.

"A kitty cat! How cute!"

"Nepgear, don't you get roped into her shenanigans, too." IF looked upon the two, unfazed. Yuki's mouth snapped shut, and the two at the end of the hall didn't know what to say.

The orange cat yelled at Nepgear, who was petting his head. "Put me down!"

Nepgear set him down, and he ran away back into the room to the left, hissing. Tohru tentatively approached the hyper teenager who had knocked on the door just mere minutes ago, and now knew about the Zodiac secret. Momiji followed her, hiding behind her legs. Neptune then ran forward and latched onto Tohru, but looked disappointed to find she didn't transform. Noire stepped in and grabbed Neptune by the hair, pulling her out. Tohru just make a small squeak of surprise and went rigid.

"Neptune, cut it out!" Noire scolded Neptune, looking stern.

IF stepped around her and apologised. "Sorry, she's normally not this hyper. A little, but not a lot. We were walking around and suddenly, we were in the forest around your home. All we need are directions to Leanbox, since we are going to visit the goddess there."

"Goddess..?" The only goddess Yuki knew was a god. And all that did was stir up memories he didn't need. Shigure stepped in before Yuki could begin panicking.

"Sorry, young ladies, but we don't understand what you're talking about. Of course, we could take you to the police office to find out, but we need to do something else first. Please, come in."

Yuki and Tohru walked off to the left as Shigure stepped back to allow them room to come in. Two more explosions came out from the left as the girl squealed. A cry of joy came out from there, as a young voice yelled. "Haru-chan!"

A white haired male came out from the kitchen and headed directly up the stairs with what appeared to be a nude Momiji. Speaking of, Neptune looked behind her to find two sets of clothes laying on the floor.

When they all had their shoes off, they followed Shigure to the dining area to the left, and sat around one end of the table, opposite Shigure and the television set they owned. Kyou was somehow already clothed again, sitting and eating, and Yuki ignored them all. Tohru sat down with them.

"You all know the secret of us now. I'm sorry, but we need to have you forget those. You aren't supposed to know."

"But why not?" Neptune pouted, looking down at Shigure.

"It's the Souma family rules. Are you familiar with the Chinese Zodiac story?"

"Cheese Zodiac? What's that?"

"The Chinese Zodiac."

"Cheese!"

Nepgear interrupted the back and forth between her sister and the oldest male, peering down at the NepG in her hands. "Nee-chan, I can't find where we are."

"Nepuu! Let me see, Neppy Jr!"

IF took the device before Neptune could, earning herself a sad look from the CPU. "Yeah, it doesn't seem to be able to communicate with the servers."

"No, it is, but it can't find us. Is it possible we travelled between dimensions again?"

"Possibly. Hey, what land are we in, um…"

"Shigure Souma. If by land, you mean country, then Japan. What's this about dimensional travel?"

Momiji and Hatsuharu returned, the former on the back of the latter. They stood in a corner to the right of Shigure, listening to the conversation.

Yuki looked up and chimed in. "If we can change into animals when girls hug us, what's stopping these from traveling between worlds like they claim?"

"Common sense," Kyou spat out.

"Wait, I can show you something even cooler! HDD mode, activate!" The last three words weren't needed for her transformation to activate, but she decided to shout them anyways, standing up suddenly as the Souma family members, including Tohru, looked at her with interest. Bright light engulfed her body as she became taller, and her hair grew longer, tying itself into two braids going down to her feet. When the light disappeared, Neptune now stood, looking like an entirely different person. She decided that instead of her usual body suit to have her HDD form wear black leggings and a dark grey sweater. The shoes by the door changed into grey flats. Something told her that these people wouldn't react best to her in her skin tight body suit or her chest exposing dress that she wears sometimes. Her curvier body was showing still, with how nicely the clothes hugged her.

"...eh?"

Kyou was the only one who reacted at first. Then, Momiji yelled something that was definitely foreign sounding. Tohru just blinked and seemed lost. Neptune sat down gracefully, tucking her legs under her as everyone tried to take in what just occurred. Even for the ones who could transform, this was something on an entirely different level.

A new problem surfaced. Everyone started experiencing something that didn't seem of this world. They all looked at each other, confused, until the surrounding area blended and morphed.

"Again?"

"What do you mean again?"

IF turned and looked at Yuki, who was now standing unsteadily. "When we first appeared in the woods, this happened. It's not like a normal dimensional portal. Those we can walk through. This just comes over us, and we travel."

"Well, how do you stop it?!" Kyou was also standing now, looking rather pissed off.

IF flinched at the anger in his voice before continuing. "We don't quite know ourselves. All we know is that we can't avoid it, and it's best to stay still, because Neptune kept moving and fell over a tree root we couldn't see at the time."

Neptune winced from where she stayed, and Yuki and Kyou decided to sit down as well. Shigure just nodded, seeming to understand, even while his head remained in a state of chaos from everything.

The room came back into view. Now, they sat on carpet in the middle of what appeared to be a living room. A television set sat on a TV stand with many electronics stored behind glass doors. A dining room was right next to it, and a kitchen branched off to the right in a small area marked with walls. Stairs were to the left of the living room, going up from a front door, and an office broke off of the entryway.

All hell broke loose.


	2. Chapter 2

Today was Saturday. Sawako was tired from the night before. Her parents had to go visit family to work out something as her grandfather had passed away a month prior. Friday night was the day they left, and the young girl had spent the entire time after school helping out with packing and doing chores. She got up from her bed as her phone sounded, playing a random song she set for her alarm tone a year back after watching a show with it. She set her feet on the ground and stood up, then turned to lay her bedsheet and comforter flat in an attempt to make it look nicer. She tucked the edges under the mattress and then stepped away before leaving her room. She went to the hall closet and opened the door to pull out a bath towel and a smaller hair towel, then went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her despite being entirely alone in the house.

Turning on the shower, she undid the buttons lining the front of her flannel she wore to fight off the cold at night. The heater didn't get upstairs well, and due to the chilly fall, it was colder in her room than normal. She undressed fully before stepping in to the warm stream of water.

She grabbed a shampoo bottle and squeezed some out into her hand, setting it down and lathering up her hair with the pomegranate scented product. Sawako put her head under the water, humming softly to herself. Once her hair was cleaned, she did the same with the conditioner, but didn't rinse it out. She instead clipped it up out of her way as she took the soap bar and grabbed a pale green loofa to clean the rest of her body.

With all that out of the way, Sawako rinsed off and stepped out onto the bath mat, wrapping herself in a towel. She took the hair towel, left the bathroom, and went into her bedroom, where she first towel dried her long, fine brown hair, then selected a soft blue-grey sweater dress and tights to wear. She put on underwear before freezing.

Voices worked under the door into her room upstairs. Her being an only child, and her parents soft speakers, this rarely happened. Especially when they were gone.

Like now.

She quickly dressed herself, then wrapped the towel around her head as someone started to yell curse words through the otherwise quiet house. Looking around the room for anything she could possibly defend herself with, she took her flute, and slowly opened her door. The case was old and heavy, and was the best she could do with what she had. Sawako crept down the hall, listening to several people talking before one screamed. Then, smoke filled the air as a sound not unlike a flour bag exploding was heard, making her jump and hit the wall with her flute case as she stepped onto the first stair going down. An older, young adult female looked up to where she stood, being the only one within eyesight. Her long purple hair was tied back in two braids.

Neptune waved her down, looking up at her serenely. Sawako swallowed her fear and went down slowly, now that her presence was known. Reaching the bottom step, she saw several pairs of shoes strewn about the entry along with her pair set nicely at the door. She peered into the living room to find Neptune, four other girls, four boys, and a rabbit, sitting on top a pile of clothes.

Yuki spoke up first. "You must be the person who lives here. Pardon our intrusion."

"What are you doing in my home?" Sawako spoke meekly, scared and ready to hit anyone who came near with the flute case.

"We would like to know that as well." Yuki seemed abnormally calm, for someone in his position, but Sawako took it to mean he's a threat, not someone who just went between dimensions.

"Get out. Please." Sawako leaned forward to open the door and then stepped quickly back to the stairs and went up two. They all filed out, Tohru grabbing the clothes and the bunny following after them. When they left, Sawako slammed the door shut and locked it quickly. She leaned against the door before remembering the shoes all over. She shook her head, then tried to decide whether to be nice or mean. Her angel side won out and she collected the shoes, then unlocked the door and tossed them all quickly onto her porch before shutting it once more.

Sighing in relief, Sawako headed into the downstairs hallway and entered the bathroom to fix her hair. She plugged in the hair curler and turned it on before setting up the little stand attached to it and putting it on the counter to let it warm while she heated up a breakfast sandwich from the freezer. Grabbing a biscuit, she stepped over to the microwave and put it in there with the plastic part open but still on, and set the microwave timer. She hit start and then leaned against the counter, still humming. The shouting had resumed, muffled by the front door, and she groaned, knowing they were still there and would likely be there when she left for the store 45 minutes down the road.

The beeping of the microwave signaled the end of the timer, and she pulled out a hot sandwich, setting it on a small saucer and putting it on the table. Sawako went to the bathroom to curl her hair, setting the towel on the back of the toilet. She switched between curling iron and hair spray to do her hair, then tied a small part of it back from both sides with a ribbon. She took the towel with her to the laundry room in the back room, and put it in the hamper, then went to enjoy the now cooled off sandwich.

When she finished her morning routine finally, she put the plate in the dishwasher and tossed the wrapper, and walked over to the entryway. She grabbed her shoes and put them on, then took her hand bag, and pulled the keys out.

Upon exiting, she did not see the group immediately, and hoped they had left. Sawako locked the door behind her and then stepped off into the driveway to see Yuki and Kyou fighting. The neighbours had went to the park, and no one else got up this early in her neighbourhood, which she was internally grateful for, as Yuki sent Kyou flying into the dirt hill on her lawn. A new boy had joined them wearing the clothes that had been laying on her living room floor half an hour before. Not a single one of them gave any care to the inhuman kick or the fact that after flying several feet that Kyou was unscathed. Yuki smiled at her and waved as Kyou yelled at him.

"Hey, she's out. Let's go talk to her now." IF jerked her head at Sawako, and she, Noire, Nepgear, and the still transformed Neptune approached her. Shigure stood off watching, as Hatsuharu consoled a sad looking Momiji, both sitting on the ground with their shoes by their side. Tohru stood over them, rubbing Momiji's head.

Sawako panicked and backed away, and IF realised what they all appear to be to her. "Ah, sorry, hold on. We can explain.

"You see, we didn't mean to be in your home. Us four," she said as she gestured between the girls that stood before Sawako, "don't know those five." IF then pointed out the orange haired boy laying on the slightly grassy pile of dirt, Yuki, who was standing looking nowhere in particular, and the three in the driveway. "We just met them following a strange occurrence. You see, us four were trying to find our friend, but ended up going between dimensions into a forest where they all lived. After meeting them, it happened again and we found ourselves all in your living room. There's a good chance it happens again, and drags you along.

"It's best you go along and take care of what you intended to do. If we are here when you come back, then it's likely for good. I apologise for the incident in the living room."

Sawako had a firm grip on her bag, prepared to swing at a moment's notice, but none of the people seemed to want to do her harm. Even still, they were in her house, and dimension traveling was a very strange concept for a normal girl like her to try and figure out. It sounded like a fairy tale. So, she decided to stay, in case they tried to get in her house again. Pulling her phone from her bag, she dialed 911 and held it for the four girls to see.

"If you so much as come near me, I'm calling the police. Got it?"

They had no idea what the police were, but chose to heed the warning, as Sawako made them seem like something they should fear in this world. Neptune looked to Noire and whispered something.

Sawako gave them a dirty glare, and Noire nodded. She then spoke to Sawako. "If I can transform, and if he changes to a cat when Neptune hugs him, will you believe us?" Noire pointed out Kyou, who now had his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Sawako eyed them skeptically, keeping her phone unlocked and her finger close to the dialer. She nodded, since that wouldn't happen either.

Noire went up in light, and when the bright white went away, her hair was no longer tied up. It was straight down her back, and a very bright white at that. She wore a long, flowing black gown with a sheer piece of fabric on the chest area. She had grown slightly on her chest, and was also a bit taller.

Shigure, seeing the light, stood from where he had been sitting and watched with a faint amusement. Behind a bush, he was unable to be seen until he rose.

Sawako had backed away, and looked fearful. "W-what..?"

Neptune walked silently over to where Kyou laid, and as promised, hugged him, causing him to yell out in surprise as he went up in smoke.

Neptune walked back over, now holding a cat with bright orange fur. Kyou's clothes remained on the hill as the cat yelled out curses, trying to free himself. The human words only served to confuse Sawako even more, as her phone screen dimmed, then shut off, without her noticing. She hit the wall of the outside of her house after a few seconds, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Nee-chan, she's scared…" Nepgear looked to her older, more mature sister, and seemed a bit saddened. Neptune set down the angry cat, and he walked away from her and her friends, then sat to clean himself. Sawako, meanwhile, was trembling, scared of the ten people, all thoughts of the police and grocery shopping gone from her mind.

Yuki had started to watch the four as they chatted with Sawako, and saw her fear stricken by the office window and garage door. He approached her with an expressionless face. She started to freak out when he got close, and he just held out a hand in the universal sign of stop. She looked up to him, being the shorter of the two, and shrunk back as he gave a small smile, tilting his head. "I'm Yuki Souma. What's your name?"

She didn't know how to react, and just stuttered incoherently. Sawako looked furtively over his shoulder, seeing Neptune chatting with Shigure, the two of them moving their arms animatedly.

Kyou looked over to the house, and the girl and boy, and spoke up. "You're scaring her, damn rat." He walked over on all four paws and sat there, watching them. Yuki ignored him, closing his eyes.

Sawako stumbled over her words before she said something even slightly understandable. "...Sawako. S-Sawako Fumihiko."

"So, you're saying if I hug this one, he will become a rat?"

Neptune was turned to Shigure, but had walked over at some point, causing Sawako, too focused on her feet, to jump. Yuki's smile turned cold. "Let's not go there."

"I'll have to ignore that. You're scaring this young girl. And me and Shigure decided it best that this situation is shown in its fullest. Come here." Neptune reached her arms around him before he could react, much faster than him, surprising him. Blue smoke poofed around them all. When it cleared, a small grey, very annoyed looking rat peered up from where he sat on top the traditional Chineseclothing he wore previously. Sawako looked shocked, and a headache was beginning to form from the stress of the weird situation.

A squeak emitted from her mouth as she remembered her tights were not fully opaque, and she pushed the fabric of her sweater dress between her legs to protect herself. Yuki took no notice, more interested in Neptune. "You and Shigure must be close, if you're already omitting honorifics."

"In my world, we don't use them often. Especially me, being a goddess and CPU."

Sawako peeked from behind her hair hanging in her face, seeing the similarly dressed girl, who was a good few inches taller, walking away, when light surrounded the body, and a few seconds later, a young, 13-ish year old girl was standing in place of her.

It was like some messed up dream. People appeared from nowhere, transforming into animals, claiming to be computers, these... girls who became other girls. The headache grew, and Sawako felt faint from the shock to her mind. When Yuki and Kyou both became human again in clouds of blue and orange smoke respectively, Sawako simply dropped her bag, losing her grip on it, and put one arm out to balance herself on the garage door, closing her eyes. Yuki grabbed his clothes and dressed himself before the smoke cleared, seeming to not care about what happened. The girl before him looked pale, he noted, so he reached one hand out, careful not to lean too close to her.

"I'm gonna check your temperature, okay?" As he said that, he placed a hand on her forehead. Her body stiffened. "You feel normal. Hmm. Are you okay?"

Sawako shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to talk, half from shyness and half from fear of the strangers who were just in her home. After all, most people don't transform, whether into an animal or a little girl. It's insane. But it was happening.

The new boy, who was the only one not in the house, walked over calmly and looked at Sawako. He then looked to Yuki and said calmly, "We should take her inside. She doesn't look well."

Yuki nodded his agreement, and Momiji took her by the hand and led her to the front door. Halfway there, she yanked her hand out of his own, smaller grip, and stepped back, fully aware of her surroundings again.

"First, I want to know who you all are." She sounded frightened and unsure of herself, but tried to sound like she had some type of authority anyways. With her small figure, pale face, and fear filled voice, that didn't work.

Momiji was the first to respond, piping up happily. "I'm Momiji Souma! You already know the zodiac secret! I'm the rabbit!" He then jumped up and attached himself to her, knocking both over to the ground. Momiji landed on top of her, and Yuki sighed, reaching down to get him off.

Momiji's eyes, closed when he jumped, opened in confusion. He got off Sawako, whose face was blank with shock. He looked at his body. "What's wrong, Momiji?" Hatsuharu stepped up to him, as Yuki realised what had occurred.

"I didn't transform?"


	3. Chapter 3

After a short lived argument outside, and some weird interruptions from Neptune about saving a game, everyone ended up inside. Sawako had learned of their origins, and because of the absurdity of it, told them to come in. She hadn't been entirely thinking, and when they all filed in and sat in the living room, she put her bottom in her mother's living room chair, and watched everyone closely.

The Souma's and Tohru all were in a deep conversation. After Momiji glomped Sawako, they started to seem… off. Shigure, the tall, black haired one of them all, was sitting quietly, staring at the ceiling.

Leaning forward, he spoke up. "I have a theory."

"Oh, really?" Yuki's voice was sharp and sarcastic, a clear contrast between the gentleness from earlier and it's annoyance now.

"Yuki-kun, so mean." The boy looked more aggravated, so Shigure decided not to continue. "I mean why Momiji didn't transform. We are in a different dimension, yes? Those four over there," he pointed out Noire, Nepgear, and IF, and then to Neptune who sat on the other chair belonging to Sawako's father, "were in our world. Sawako wasn't. Maybe the bond can't reach here because Akito isn't here. The bond doesn't know Sawako exists, but because the others were in our dimension, it recognises them."

"So like how a body won't recognise a foreign substance, and can't do anything about it until it learns?" Sawako interjected, a little bit curious to her abnormality.

"Precisely!"

"For once you actually sound like you're thinking."

"Yuki-kun is being mean again." Shigure pouted, and Yuki merely sighed softly and turned away to Tohru, striking up a random conversation with her. Sawako chose to ignore the group before her, pulling out her phone and on the screen. She only looked back after hearing it quiet down a little, and noticed Momiji staring at her phone.

He saw her look at him, and perked up. "What's that?" He seemed very curious, and right now was no exception.

"This is my phone."

"Phones look like that? You have a weird phone." He then pulled out his phone from his pocket, a highly old model that had only number buttons and a small screen that when lit up, had no colour. An antenna like bit stuck up from the right side. The style reminded Sawako of old toy phones from her childhood that beeped noisily.

"Why is your phone so old?" The question was innocent, but Momiji looked slightly hurt before recovering.

"Papa got this for me! It's the newest model."

She smiled slightly, imagining his father giving his childish son a phone like that so he didn't break it. Young children didn't need phones like hers anyways. It simply wasn't necessary. That's what Sawako had been taught, at least.

Tohru looked over with a smile on her own face as well. Momiji looked excited to talk with Sawako, who opened up easily with the comfortable nature of the soon to be high school first year.

Yuki followed her glance. The two chatted amicably, Momiji sitting on the edge of the L shaped couch, his legs where armrests would've been had they been added to the modern seating. Yuki began to study the interior of the house. It was very much different from his own home. In contrast with the older electronics, they seemed futuristic. In fact, even the set up of the furniture was new and interesting. He stood, and walked past everyone, stepping carefully over legs that were in the middle of the floor. Sawako paid him no heed as he walked between the two, chattering away.

Turning down the hall, Yuki approached a back room. A glass door was to his left. Familiar styles of wallpaper and flooring were in the kitchen, and even the curtains were older. But the appliances were a mystery. Entering the room, he noticed an open laptop. At first, he thought it was a glowing sign, but it looked strange, and very much unlike a paper with light behind. Yuki made his way over and sat in the chair at the desk that housed this new device. A wireless mouse was next to it. This he recognized. Besides the fact that it had no cord, it looked the same as Shigure's computer mouse.

Moving the mouse caused a cursor that had faded out to appear. It was pink and had a cupcake on it, and it took him a moment to realise it was the mouse. The wireless equipment was cool. When he moved the mouse again, the faint light under the keyboard appeared, allowing him to see the keys better. After watching some more, Yuki realised it was just a normal computer, albeit much, much smaller and more compact than Shigure's, and way more responsive. The hinges tempted him to shut it, and he did so, the lid making a snap when the locking feature built in closed. From there, it took Yuki a few seconds to reopen, and watch the screen turn back on.

Not as interesting as the boy had hoped, but still cool nonetheless. Not wanting to dig into Sawako's stuff, he stood up, pushed the rolling chair in to the desk space, and sat down on the floor cross legged. Mindless, playful banter from Neptune and Kyou floated in, the latter sounding annoyed. Footsteps approached, and the grey hair moved as Yuki looked up to see the visitor.

Noire had entered from the other area, and upon seeing Yuki, sat down on her knees beside him on the carpet. Her eyes wandered over to a hanging calendar that was nailed below a wall clock.

"What's your world like?"

She didn't look over, but Yuki knew it was directed at him. He didn't know her, and wasn't much of a talker with strangers, so he gave a short response. "Different than here, but not by much. We went to school, ate food at home. People here are the same as people I knew. I expected more of a change."

Noire pondered for a moment. "Your dimension and this dimension appear the same, but this one seems to be farther ahead. The calendar you had in your house said 1998. That one says 2019. We don't count years, and being hundreds of years old means I don't really care."

Yuki checked the calendar and found her to be right. This was 21 years in the future. That would explain the differences in the items the house had.

Tohru's voice picked up a bit, and Yuki heard someone move abruptly when the boards creaked. Tohru approached the kitchen, then looked lost. Sawako followed right behind her and urged her back into the living room before looking like she was a bit lost herself. A yellow piece of lined paper was in her hands. Neptune's human form voice sounded like she was complaining. Noire stood and walked into the mess in the front room, scolding the goddess as she went. The rat decided to enter the kitchen and check on Sawako, who was looking through the fridge. He walked right to her side and looked down at her. The inhabitant of the home was harried and slightly upset. When she shut a drawer in the bottom of the open fridge, she turned sideways enough to spot Yuki's feet, and fell back startled.

"Ah, sorry, are you alright?" Yuki reached his hand out and helped Sawako stand up when she grabbed hold. When she was upright, she shut the fridge door and stared at the note in her other right hand.

Yuki awaited a response that was never given. Sawako pulled her phone out from her pocket and scrolled text messages. Before Yuki looked away, he saw messages, tons of them, from her to a contact named Mom. Not a single one had gotten a reply in all the ones he could see on the brightly coloured cell phone screen. It creeped him out. A thought popped into Yuki's mind. Did Sawako live alone?

His unsaid question was answered. "Sorry, I'm texting my mum to try and explain all this. She and my dad are on a trip to visit with family. My grandfather passed away last month, so they're trying to settle the estate. They'll be back home in two days though. I can't wait, I miss them a lot already." A half smile formed on her face, and she seemed very happy to be able to see her parents again.

Yuki felt dread forming in his stomach still, but he ignored it. "I'm sorry for your loss." She seemed to not have heard, typing away with her two thumbs, pressing keys on the glass screen of the strange, new device.

It was a couple of minutes before Yuki, turned away, heard her stop typing. The soft clicking of the phone had ceased, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Sawako staring at the notes, slightly wrinkled from being in her warm hand. Skimming it, he noticed it seemed to be a shopping list. Yuki recalled her earlier when she left the house, and figured she meant to go shopping.

Sawako went to the back room and opened a drawer in her desk. She found what she was searching for, and stood up, closing the drawer with her leg as she walked off with a chapstick tube in her hand. She walked over to the living room, and Yuki rounded the corner, exiting the kitchen from the other end into the dining/living area. He watched as Sawako grabbed the previously forgotten arm bag and walked over to the door to gather her shoes and slip them on.

Shigure didn't move a muscle. He however called for Yuki. "Sawako-kun can't go alone to the store. Yuki-kun should go along!"

Sawako appeared frightened by this proposal. "I'm quite fine, rea-"

"Don't worry, it's no bother to me. You, however annoyed you seemed, did allow us to stay here." Yuki sounded calm despite stumbling over someone's leg as he himself went to the front door. Sawako shrunk back when he reached down to grab his own shoes.

Tohru decided to make it a party of three. "Ah, ah, can I go, too? I can help out. I don't want to be a bother to you…" With her request, Kyou's ears twitched, and he tensed. Sawako noticed and just told them both to come along, cursing herself silently.

The four left the house after Sawako told them to behave, leaving IF, the most trustworthy of the seven (in her own opinion after observing them), to be in charge. This was met with a sad look on Shigure's part before he went back to reading what appeared to be a shoujo novel.

Tohru was very happy and glad to feel helpful, chatting merrily while they left the court and walked down the road to the main highway in Sawako's town. Yuki merely quietly observed everything, his hands in his pockets. Sawako thought he seemed tense.

After about ten minutes of walking up the slight incline, Yuki asked Sawako a question. "What day is today?"

Sawako fidgeted with the bag that was under her arm. "Sunday."

"I meant of the month."

"Ah, sorry!" Sawako's eyes seemed sad.

Yuki quickly eased her worries, saying that she didn't need to apologise. She answered him again, this time giving both day and month. "Today is April 7th."

If he remembered correctly, he thought it was April 5th, but being that he was now in another year entirely it didn't surprise him. School started tomorrow.

"School..?" Yuki muttered.

"School? Tomorrow is the end of spring break, so I have school, yeah." Sawako walked along, mulling over this. "Ah, you aren't enrolled, are you?" Yuki nodded simply. "Hopefully you're caught up then! We are already halfway through the semester by now. We had quarter prep right before spring break."

This time, Tohru spoke up. "Ah, but… We haven't started school. What do you mean semester ending?"

Everyone paused walking, except for Kyou, who walked right into Yuki's back. "Damn rat.." he cursed. A car passing by blew their hair sideways, creating an odd effect as the three foreigners now tried to understand Sawako's words. Their school had trimester like periods, not semesters, and they hadn't even started school yet.

Sawako realised they had no idea, and began to explain how the school year worked. This came at a shock for the others, used to the Japanese school system. They started walking again at some point, and reached the highway before turning right to get to the grocery store. It took up to the gas station near the store for them to finally understand the system, and for them all to decide to enroll in their previous grade as sophomores, given that they hadn't even started their junior year, or second year for them, of high school.

They were silent walking across the parking lot from the sidewalk. Not having much to say, the air around them felt odd. It wasn't tense or awkward, but just strange. They barely knew each other, and yet, were somehow supposed to live together.

Sawako smoothed her hair uncomfortably as she entered the store, the others right behind her. She grabbed a cart and pushed it along. Tohru spoke up.

"What if we split the list in half, and we can go and get the food twice as fast?" Tohru beamed, and Sawako nodded. She folded the list back and forth in her hands, then gently tore it.

"Who's with who?" Kyou questioned. Tohru's face went blank as she gave it some thought.

Yuki answered. "I can go with Fumihiko-san. Honda-san can go with the stupid cat." Kyou's outburst after caused nearby people to stare, but Yuki seemed to not care, taking Sawako by the hand and leading her off with him to go shop. Tohru gave a warm smile to Kyou, who was now red faced at the attention, and went off to get a cart, skipping happily.

Yuki and Sawako were relatively quiet. They worked fast and diligently to get the shopping list finished. Walking through each aisle and gathering different dry noodles, packaged shrimp, and other miscellaneous things, Sawako felt tired. Everything was wearing her down. The large shock of that morning was finally taking its toll on her body. Yuki was a welcome help, grabbing things off the list as they passed it faster than she even could find them, despite never being in the store.

After picking up soy milk for the girl, and grabbing a large gallon of 2% milk for the others, they went to the check out line, where Kyou stood with his arms crossed next to Tohru as the girl waved at them with a big smile on her face. Sawako smiled back, feeling how infectious the joy was. This girl was radiant and sparkling to her. It was quite nice. Sawako decided to try harder to be friendly with Tohru. Having a good friend to rely on was nice, and Sawako had trouble with talking to people at school, as a result of being incredibly shy.

The belt was loaded by Sawako at the front and Yuki at the end. The aisle was too small for others to fit, so Tohru and Kyou had walked past them first to help bag up the groceries and put them in the now empty cart. The other one that the cat and the other girl had used was put up already, since they no longer needed it.

Yuki looked to Tohru while the cashier scanned each item's barcode, a beep sounding with each product added to the total. "Honda-san, should we go out to celebrate later?"

Tohru's face looked a bit blank, and she seemed confused by this question. Then, she understood. "For my birthday? Ah, you don't have to, Souma-kun. I'm fine! We can just hang out tomorrow, right?"

Yuki looked down to the items moving on the belt. "Today is actually April 7th, so we missed your birthday. I apologise." The unsaid words were that in this world, it was no longer the 5th. Being in public, if someone overheard, it might've been a bit confusing. Not that anyone would believe such a thing.

"We can still celebrate! It's fine!" Tohru looked to Sawako. "Ah, but I don't want to bother you…"

Sawako could tell she would get along with Tohru easily. She smiled, turning to the card machine, since she noticed only a few items remained to be scanned. But the words that came out were definitely foreign.

It seemed that not one of the three noticed the English everywhere. Products in Japan often had English written on them. But what Sawako was saying to the cashier wasn't decipherable. Some words stood out, but the rest was not clear. Tohru seemed to be in shock, Kyou's mouth had dropped in a comical way, and Yuki's face was devoid of any emotion despite his own mind running circles trying to figure out how he never noticed. Tohru panicked slightly after a few seconds and started rushing to pack the items in bags to take home.

"**Thank you!" **Sawako turned to the ashen faced trio, and giggled. "What are you all doing?"

Tohru smiled herself, happy that Sawako smiled. Tohru was scared that the girl didn't do that often, but was wrong, much to her satisfaction. The two boys stayed quiet, grabbing two bags each while the girls each held one. Sawako pushed the cart to the line of the other ones, and then they all left the store.

For the entire walk home, the boys lingered behind, still in shock and also upset with themselves, feeling stupid. Tohru and Sawako hit it off, chatting amicably.

"Tohru-san, what would you like to do? We should do something for your birthday!"

"Ah, no, it's alright, Fumi-"

Lopping an arm around the other's shoulders, Sawako whispered, "Call me Sawako-san."

"Ah! Um, then… Sawa-chan?"

"That works!" Sawako made a fist pump, and Tohru laughed.

"Ah, about earlier…" Tohru looked a bit awkward, and Sawako smiled reassuringly.

"The English? That's my second language. You worry too much. Yeah, I live in America. You are kinda lucky, since I speak Japanese. My parents taught it to me since I was born."

"Your parents seem like really nice people!"

"Yeah, they are. I miss them. I can't wait for Tuesday, they'll be back then!"

"What are they like?"

"Well…" Sawako paused for a moment. "My mom used to bake a lot, but recently, she stopped. I'll have to ask her to make apple pie some time. I miss it! She's the best mom I've ever met, though. Sometimes, I get in trouble, and she scolds me. But she always holds me when I'm sad, and we have this song we always sing." Sawako started singing a tune with really soft vocals. The lyrics were hard to make out, but Tohru could understand them. The song spoke of a lone girl, lost in a forest, with no escape. As the song went on, the girl became closer and closer to death, but a child walked up and smiled up to her, and led the girl out of the forest. When Sawako finished, Tohru was whimpering, and had tears in her eyes.

"That was beautiful!"

"Tohru-chan!" Sawako rubbed her face, and Tohru took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

"It's such a sad song…"

"You're really silly, you know that?"

"Ah… Oh, what about your dad?"

"You recover quick!" Sawako made a face, and Tohru just giggled. "Well, my dad… Papa is always working. He stays up late, but he doesn't eat much. And he is always telling me bad jokes. They're so corny. But I laugh anyways, because of his faces. And he tells amazing stories. I wish I could be as creative as him." Sawako had this dreamy look in her eyes, and seemed very passionate. "I write a lot of stories, you see."

"That's so cool! Can I read one?" Tohru was incredibly excited, and it took Sawako by surprise. The caramel haired girl looked to the brunette, and nodded.

"What about your parents, Tohru-chan? Maybe I can meet them!"

"Oh… Well, they both passed away." Despite the sad tone, Tohru had a faint smile, as if memories were enough to keep her from becoming depressed. "My dad passed away when I was three, so I don't remember much, you see. But my mom, she stuck by me the entire time. She raised me alone, and always had a huge smile on her face. I know that she loved me dearly. But the day she passed away, I didn't tell her "Come home safe!" like I always did. I slept in from studying all night… and couldn't tell her."

"Don't blame yourself, Tohru-chan. It is just a coincidence, albeit, a really awful one. You're a really sweet girl. Don't let that get you down your entire life. I bet your mom loved you up to her death. She never would've blamed someone like you. I don't know her, but I bet that she is watching over you, and misses you dearly."

Tohru smiled warmly. "Thank you, Sawa-chan. I bet your parents love you too, and they can't wait to get home!"

Sawako laughed, then her smile flattened. Her face became unreadable. "Sawa-chan?"

Sawako then stopped walking, and let go of the bag. The boys behind the other two stopped walking, and looked in front of them, focusing on Tohru's worried face and Sawako's back. They saw Sawako shake her head, grab the bag, and start walking again. "Sorry, that was nothing. Don't worry, Tohru-chan!"

Tohru smiled. Yuki couldn't shake that feeling from earlier that started up again. Something just didn't sit right about Sawako, but Yuki couldn't figure it out, and it frustrated him. He gripped the bags tighter, clenching his fists reflexively.

"Damn rat, what's your problem?" Kyou was glaring at him, both walking again.

"Shut up, stupid cat."

"Why you…!"

Sawako turned around to face them. "Let's cross the street at this light! It's easier if we do it here. Usually I cross the street closer to home, but since we are a larger group, here is alright."

Yuki relaxed his grip, and walked to Sawako's left side, leaving Kyou behind the three of them and pissing him off.

The short walk down the rest of the street was uneventful. When they arrived home, Neptune greeted them with a hyperactive grin. "Noire and Iffy said they would figure out school stuff, and Nep Jr joined them, so it's boring. Shigure is being a pervert too!"

The boy being accused was on the couch, reading a book. At those words, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he set the book down in his lap. Yuki and Kyou stormed over and towered over the dog.

"Now, now, you two…"

"Shut up. Don't speak to the girls again. Don't talk to any girls, ever."

"Yuki-kun is mad…"

Tohru walked over and looked between them back and forth, trying to calm them down. Sawako decided to watch, slightly interested. Somehow, within a single minute, it went from Yuki and Shigure to Kyou and Yuki. When they looked like they would come close to blows, Yuki grabbed Kyou's arm and dragged him out the front door to the front yard.

"So it's only okay to break my house?!" Shigure whined. He sighed, and went back to reading leaning back into the couch cushion. He looked up at Sawako. "They do that all the time, don't worry. Yuki will win again. Kyou really wants to beat him, but alas… he has never succeeded."

"Ah. Oh! I'll start lunch for everyone."

Tohru turned and followed Sawako, saying she wanted to help, but Sawako just urged her out of the kitchen. "We are celebrating your birthday today. Relax! Go sit down and rest." Sawako looked out the kitchen window through the open blinds. "Momiji-kun and Hatsuharu-kun are outside in the backyard, if you want to go play with them."

"O-okay!" Tohru went to the back room past the kitchen and exited through the sliding glass door, shutting it softly behind her. Momiji spotted her and ran up to her, jumping onto her and promptly turning into the same bunny that Sawako had seen before. Sawako laughed quietly to herself, and heard Neptune's voice again as she chatted with Shigure.

Sawako grabbed the bag of bread that laid on the counter by the dish drying rack and counted slices. Only seven remained, so she grabbed one of the new loaves from the bags and counted in her head, coming up with twenty-two slices required for everyone.

The cheese block that sat in the top drawer at the bottom of the fridge was pulled out, and the girl started to slice it up into 11 equal pieces. She also brought out the ham slices so that everyone could have ham on the grilled cheese. Sawako knew her mom liked to do that for her and her father, so she did it as well.

Yuki walked into the kitchen, and Sawako saw him from the corner of her eye. She didn't hear him come in, so she was a bit surprised, but didn't show it.

Sawako turned on the oven and between beeps heard Neptune's hyper voice ring out from the front.

"Iffy, Noire is bullying me!"

"Neptune, shut up!"

Both goddesses were arguing, but the banter between them was friendly, not hostile. IF laughed as she rounded the corner, Neptune hot on her tail, and Noire at the back.

"Ah, good, you're in here. I heard noises so I figured as much." Noire's responsible voice didn't match her tiny body and weird outfit, but it didn't bother Sawako. "I did some research with Nepgear's help and got us enrolled in school. You were talking about it earlier, right? We saw it across the street."

"but we've never been to school before, so this is all new stuff to us!" Neptune cut in, very much thrilled by being able to attend school, something she had always heard about and got threatened over.

"Of course," Noire shoved in front of Neptune while Sawako laid bread down, having buttered both sides to keep it from sticking, "we talked to Shigure, that dude in the yukata or something over there, about the ages of the others, so that we didn't mess up, and we decided to enter in the grade they were in."

Neptune stuck her head out to add onto the statement. "But we are goddesses, so it'll be easy-breezy!"

IF was quiet during the exchange, happy to allow Noire to go on, but when it seemed like that was all there was to say, IF asked a question for Sawako. "What grade are you in, by the way? They're all in their eleventh grade year, or junior year I guess, besides Hatsuharu and Momiji. Those two are in tenth grade."

"Ah, I'm a junior too. So we are in the same grade then?"

"Yep. Nice to meet you, classmate!"

"Yahoo!" Neptune hopped and ran off somewhere, likely to Nepgear to brag. Noire followed, calling out for her to slow down, only to get a response in the form of the other falling and crashing into the floor. IF sighed and tagged along, and then the only two there were Yuki and Sawako, the only company the silent Shigure in the back room and the yells of the other three.

"Eleventh grade..? What's that?" Yuki spoke up and Sawako smiled to herself.

"Second year high school. In America, grades are one through twelve, and there are four years in high school where I live."

At no point did the resident of the house think of the fact that she accepted total strangers so readily into her own home, and from an outward look, those strangers seemed in no way panicked over their sudden teleportation, instead enrolling in a high school within a few hours.

In reality, Sawako wasn't one to think about that, and it didn't matter, because most of it didn't affect her. Neptune and the other three were used to blending in to society in other worlds, so they were a bit scared but kept to themselves. The Souma family was on edge.

Tohru was a ditz. She didn't think too much past being unable to see Uo and Hana, but she was having enough fun anyways. Reality seemed to not have sunk in yet on her part.

Momiji and Hatsuharu were also enjoying themselves. Hatsuharu had decided to protect Momiji, but having no clue to their situation, while unhappy, wasn't actively working to a goal at all. Momiji had all eyes on Tohru, and wasn't worried either. But both felt unsettled in a very strange way.

Yuki and Kyou were being affected too. Kyou took out his fear on Yuki, still battling for his chance to be in the zodiac. Yuki, closest to god as the rat, was thinking about what everything meant while he watched Sawako prepare lunch for everyone. He felt happy and sad. Similar to when he met Akito, but not as strong. The bond felt like it had a chokehold on his spirit in fact, like it did to the other four. Yuki was able to ignore it, but he felt like the travel had stretched it, and because he was unable to see and follow his god properly, while he knew it was connected, it might as well had been broken, so he felt longing and loneliness.

Shigure was thinking as well where he had stationed himself on the floor. He had come to the same conclusion, but worried about how this would turn out, and how Akito felt. Their god might be taking out anger on the other zodiacs at that moment, but Shigure didn't give that too much thought.

As Sawako pulled off the last sandwich and turned the stove off, all five shared a thought.

What exactly is happening to the bond?


	4. Chapter 4

Noire at dinner had talked at length, with Nepgear helping and Neptune interrupting, about schedules, clubs, sports, and anything and everything that involved the school they were to attend tomorrow. She said she had made sure applications were processed, but wouldn't say the means through which she did that or created her falsified vaccine records and transcripts. Sawako had supplied her own schedule to assist Noire when class request forms were filled out. Nepgear had helped make last name for the four girls to utilise. IF had helped make card rings with basic English for everyone to use until they learned enough, which Kyou and Yuki already had made a battle of with Neptune providing commentary. This of course almost came at the cost of the dining table until Yuki walked outside again.

Sawako had just finished cleaning dishes when Momiji came up and hugged her tightly.

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Sawako's parents always bought loads of school stuff or had obtained freebies from events and sales, so backpacks were quickly made up and packed. Clothes had yet to be sorted out however. Sawako hadn't gone over rules either for the next day. She held a single finger out as she set the pan in the drying rack next to a small pot she made corn in. Sawako rached under the sink for a dish detergent pod in the box below the right side, and shut the door gently, unwrapping the tablet and placing it in the cup while Momiji watched from behind. He made a soft noise, seemingly from excitement, when Sawako placed the tablet in the detergent cup, sealed it, and locked the dishwasher, starting it.

"That thing does dishes for you?"

"Yeah." Sawako felt cool, like an older sister might. She left the kitchen and saw that IF had gathered everyone in the living room for Sawako. First was rules.

"You can hang out with me if you want to when you can. I can ask the teachers in case anyone shares a class with me, since no one can speak English well. Mostly, I want to warn you all. You may have shown me, but please don't transform into an animal or another person entirely. People won't react well. Anyways, moving on. Tomorrow, I'll show you around the school in the morning. We need to get up at 6 so that we can leave at 6:55. If we do that we can get to the school right when it opens, so we can get the front of the school. at 7:20, the doors open to the rest of the school. The schedules we printed are in your bags. You will want them then. We can look around then. First bell is at 7:45, and the hallways get crowded then. Very crowded. I know none of you are likely used to that. Second bell and tardy bell is at 7:50. Bell schedule is written on the schedule."

A hand was raised. "What if we are late?" Tohru seemed worried.

"Just be careful to get to class on time. It's really easy. If the teacher is late, then it isn't your fault. If you feel like you can't visit your locker during a passing period, then don't. It's fine." Sawako had talked about lockers already, and how the school worked in general, being that it was very different from what half of them were used to.

Shigure, who had sat in for reasons unknown, spoke. "Please don't start anything Yuki-kun, Kyou-kun. I don't want calls." He had a pouty face, and resembled a small child.

"Right, don't be stupid either, anyone. Shigure will be getting all calls since he is the emergency contact on everyone's student files."

Sawako looked at her phone in her hand for the time. 9:41. "It's already late. Yuki-kun, Kyou-kun, Haru-kun, Momiji-kun. You can wear my dad's clothing. It might be a little big on Momiji-kun, but that's alright."

"But I wanna wear Sawa-chan's clothing!"

"M-mine?" Sawako was a bit taken aback, but recovered quickly with a smile. "Okay, you can wear my clothes." She thought he was cute, and it was fine if he wore her clothes, as long as it wasn't something too out there.

"Yay!" Momiji skipped up the stairs with Hatsuharu following behind him. Sawako also went up, with Yuki and Kyou behind her, looking tired out from Momiji's antics. Momiji had waited outside her door, and she motioned for him to wait while she got clothes for the other three to wear to sleep and to school the next day.

Sawako opened the door to the master bedroom. Something was very much wrong with the air in here. It was stagnant, and dust coated most of the surfaces, as if it had been abandoned, Yuki and Kyou paused at the door, looking around, as Sawako flipped the switch to reveal one working bulb in a ceiling fan. The room was messy and boxes laid in front of the right wall. A path was made in front of the bathroom door and the closet. Hatsuharu, with his hands in his pockets, followed Sawako to the closet door. She opened it, humming. Clothes were hanging in there, and seemed more dusty than the rest of the place.

"Hey, why does your parent's room look so old? Do they even live in here?" Kyou pushed a box back with his foot as he walked inside and sat on the bed, sending a small bit of dust up into the air. Yuki shut the door behind him as he looked at pictures on a dresser in the right corner just inside the room. Sawako, much younger in each and every one, stood by two very happy parents. Her mother seemed just a bit taller than herself, and her dad was about Yuki's size, only a few centimeters taller.

"Of course they do, where else would they live?" Sawako went back to humming, coughing a little as she smacked at shirts to clear them. "I guess it's a little dusty, but that's normal!"

"No it isn't. You're really weird." Yuki glared at Kyou as if telling him to shut up. For some reason, Kyou seemed to understand him and heed the warning, and stopped talking about it.

Hatsuharu had a shirt and pants in his hands to wear for pajamas. Being bigger than her father, he didn't have much to choose from for clothes to wear at school. He picked a simple graphic tee and jeans with a small tear at the knee that had been pushed to the back. Then, he left. Kyou stood up to go look while Yuki examined the drawers and what was on top of them. Loose change, notes with dates, seemingly for some job. The notes were all in English, but the date was from a couple years back.

Kyou then left the room as well with a set of flannel pajamas and dark blue jeans, plus a grey zip up hoodie that said Sacramento and plain red shirt. Yuki stopped looking, feeling unsettled by his finds, and looked to the floor as he dodged boxes and very dry empty water bottles that had fallen out of an upended recycling box.

In the closet was button ups, graphic tees, branded hoodies, slacks, jeans, and more. In the back were some nicer clothes, and that's what Yuki reached for. It seemed that Sawako's father shared an interest in traditional Chinese clothing, along with some Japanese ones too. Yuki felt like wearing this in America would be strange, but it was his first day, so he thought it nice to look well. The shirt was a plain white one with buttons on the front and a collar with rounded corners. The shirt closed up with little loops of fabric that went around the buttons. The pants were just a dark navy blue, and very simple.

His pajamas were basic flannel ones too, but while Kyou had a red pair with patterns that Sawako's dad didn't care for too much, Yuki had newer, but more worn, blue ones with stripes on the ends of the sleeves and legs.

Each boy had gotten an undershirt if wanted, and also boxer shorts, before they left, and Yuki did too. He folded his clothes right outside the door as Sawako went to help Momiji find something.

The blonde child ran inside the bedroom, bursting with excitement. Sawako had grabbed him underwear too, and watched him open the closet door to look at her clothes she had hanging. After some time, he pulled out a simple flowery shirt with ruffles and hed it up to himself, looking into the mirror hanging from the door. On him, it looked like it fit perfectly. He didn't look like a girl somehow, and it looked normal. He thanked her when he found button up pajamas in light blue with pants, and a pair of skinny pants for the next day in black.

The girls came up to Sawako's room as well and searched her closet. Neptune found a hoodie with leggings, close to what she wore but not standing out as much. Noire took out a dress in navy blue, and paired it with tights. Nepgear went for a white blouse and a dark purple skirt, and IF dragged out blue jeans and a graphic tee with a panda face on front with a green background. Tohru selected a white button up and a blue skirt, apparently trying to get close to a traditional Japanese uniform. For underwear, Noire had to go look at Sawako's mother's bras, but Tohru and Nepgear tried on Sawako's, being close in size to the smaller girl. IF and Neptune had to get into a drawer to find old bras that had smaller cups to wear (Neptune teased IF endlessly until the latter pulled out what looked like tiny, deadly swords from nowhere). Finally, everyone but Shigure had something to wear. The last male had decided to wear to bed his yukata.

Kyou was placed in the bedroom to the right of Sawako's on the floor, and Momiji and Hatsuharu shared the spare queen. They offered to let the cat sleep with them but he put his foot down and said no. Shigure picked the office, and Tohru stayed with IF, Neptune, Nepgear, and Noire in the master. Yuki refused to sleep with Shigure, and Sawako didn't want him fighting with Kyou, but there was no room in the master, ao he slept on the floor with Sawako. Neptune went downstairs for most of the night to play games, and Nepgear changed her mind last minute and stayed with Sawako. Finally, they all brushed their teeth, washed their faces or showered, and went to bed. Nepgear and Sawako shared the twin, while Yuki slept on the floor.

Sawako felt Nepgear relax and heard her breathing even out. Sawako herself was too anxious to go to sleep. Yuki passed out long ago, only a few minutes after they had went to bed. Tohru's birthday celebration was fun, but Yuki kept having to manage Momiji, and Neptune jumped him twice as well as Kyou. Sawako let him stay in the backroom each time so he didn't transform into his human self again fully naked in front of everyone. Noire scolded Neptune after the second time, and Neptune promised to knock it off. Sawako smiled at the memory.

She held her stuffed toy close to her. The panda in her arms may have lost its spectacular white colour over the years, but Pandie was still treasured. Sawako had owned him since she could remember, and her mom would tell stories all the time of how Sawako would never let go of him, even to get cleaned. Sometimes, Pandie went for a swim in the bathtub, and other times, he became a guardian against monsters in the dark. Even now she slept with a nightlight, and he protected her. It seemed childish so she kept it a secret, but there wasn't avoiding it now, so she swore her new housemates to secrecy.

The light outside cast a glow through the uncovered window on Yuki. Even so, Sawako's eyes were closed when the boys face became tense and pained. She was asleep when he sat up suddenly, sweaty and panting.

The alarm clock woke up the three in the room as well as Kyou in the other room. Sawako sat up in bed and reached to turn it off, but Nepgear caused her to jump, since in her sleepiness she had forgotten that there were new residents. Kyou stomped down the hall past the bedroom into the bathroom, and Sawako flipped her head around to investigate until her thoughts finally cleared and she recalled everything from the previous day. She turned the alarm off as Nepgear sat up as well. Sawako heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on from the bathroom as she swung her legs over onto the floor and stood, stretching. Nepgear climbed off the bed as well, and Yuki stood up and then bent down to grab his clothes he folded next to his pillow for that day.

Sawako left the room, Nepgear following, and shut the door so the boy could change. Kyou opened the bathroom door and almost walked right into them before stopping at the last moment. "Excuse me," he said as he walked behind them and back into the other bedroom. Sawako laughed when he heard Momiji complaining as she knocked on the door to the master bedroom when Kyou went to rouse him. She entered the room and went to wake the two goddesses, their friend, and Tohru. Apparently the incredibly polite girl had slept on the floor, and Sawako nearly stepped on her before she noticed.

"Ah, hi there, Sawako." Sawako looked up to meet IF's eyes. The guild master was sitting up already, and Neptune was fast asleep, clinging to her right leg, while Noire slept facing away on the left. "I got these two. You might want to check on Tohru. It sounded like she had been crying."

Sawako looked down at the peaceful, sweet face on the floor at the foot of the bed. She knew when she cried, she didn't like to talk about it, and if it was at night, then it was definitely meant to be a secret, so it was best to leave it. She just woke up Tohru, and left the room to let them dress themselves. Sawako entered her room, since Yuki had left the door open for her. She reached into the closet and grabbed a dress with a simple black lace pattern over a black fabric on the chest area and a floral pattern for the skirt, and pulled from a dresser drawer a pair of black, thick cotton tights. She took off the nightgown she slept in and tossed it in the hamper, and quickly put on her clothes in the cold air, along with slippers to prevent holes being torn in the feet of the tights. Her hair was a bit knotted, so she headed downstairs to brush the knots out, taking a black ribbon with her.

On the first floor, it was a bit hectic. What would normally be just getting ready was insane with 11 people bumping into each other. A schedule would need to be formed.

Dodging Neptune, who was laying in the middle of the floor for some reason, looking fast asleep as Nepgear scolded her, Sawako went to the bathroom, finding Tohru in there.

"Ah, hi."

"S-sorry! I'll be out of your way!"

Sawako smiled back, trying to dispel the worries in Tohru's eyes. Tohru still had pajamas on and clothes on the back of the toilet as she brushed through her hair. "Do you always brush first? It might get knotted when you put your clothes on."

"Huh? Oh!"

She left Tohru to her panic as the girl shut the door behind Sawako to change. They all just woke up, and were surprisingly cognitive, for the most part. Except Neptune, who now whined about being tired as IF talked to her about staying up all night gaming again.

Sawako went into the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal, putting the ribbon on the counter closest to the bathroom for later. She smoothed down her long, fine brown hair and grabbed the bag of cereal, milk, a bowl, and a spoon, from the places they were stored. The cereal was poured into a bowl and milk on top of that, then she put the cereal and milk away and sat at the table to eat.

It was fun watching them all get ready in the morning. IF and Noire both stood over Neptune who sat on the floor with a pouty look. The two others were dressed while Planeptune's goddess had on pajamas. Nepgear was in front of Neptune, also dressed in her clothes, that surprisingly fit quite well.

Yuki walked up behind Sawako with the same cereal and milk she had, plus his own bowl and spoon. Kyou walked down the stairs behind Hatsuharu and Momiji, bickering with the rabbit about something while the small boy was carried by Hatsuharu.

"Ah, good morning Yuki-kun."

Yuki smiled at Sawako as he dumped a small amount of cereal into his bowl, followed by milk. He set both in the center of the table for others to use. "Good morning, Fumihiko-san."

"Sawa-chan!" Momiji, now hugging Sawako from behind, was dressed and had his hair combed through. Hatsuharu was also fully ready, as was Kyou, and Sawako now noticed, Yuki.

She laughed at his childishness. He was quite adorable, and she hoped she could be a big sister to him. Sawako had always wanted a younger brother anyways, so it was alright with her. Hatsuharu Joined them opposite the other three. Momiji took Sawako's left, and Tohru entered and sat in front of him. Nepgear came to the table and took the other side.

Momiji continued to chat with them all with not many replies while everyone ate. Sawako finished fast and went to do her hair before packing her bag and grabbing her phone.

The rice cooker beeped, and then the click of the lid popping open was heard. Sawako turned and saw Noire and IF helping to make lunches as promised while Tohru noticed and tried to help them. Noire handed over the rice and let her scoop it into multiple sandwich containers and Sawako's bento box. The plan was to go out and shop later that night to get things for everyone to use like their own hair brushes and toothbrushes, but for now the Tupperware containers were fine.

Eventually, all of them gathered by the door. All the lights were turned off, and the garage and back doors were shut and locked. Sawako pulled her key from her pocket and followed last through the front door, closing it and locking it up.

"Don't be late to class, it starts at 07:50." Sawako directed this to Neptune mostly, but just wanted to make sure everyone remembered. All ten of them left the porch, went down the avenue, then crossed the street, ready for school.


	5. Chapter 5

First period for Sawako was English. Kyou had this class with her, as well as Noire. Both, on Sawako's request, sat with her at a table that was unused by other classmates. Kyou kept getting a couple glances from the students, who were trying to figure out why his hair was orange, but most of the members didn't care about the two new students, or the weird hair colour.

Mrs. Lemb took attendance silently. Then she stood and moved to the front of the class. **"Open the Springboard book to page 309."**

Noire and Kyou both just stared at her as if she was an alien. Sawako told them the page number and they flipped to it. They were both given Springboard workbooks when they entered by the teacher who had obtained them from the librarian.

Of course, the workbook was written entirely in English. The class was almost entirely Sawako translating the Springboard text sample to the other two and then the discussion questions and answers.

Second period was easy. History, and no one in there that needed translations. Sawako worried about the others, but tried to focus on her work, and finished so that she had no homework.

Sawako had band third period with Yuki. None of the high schoolers knew any instruments, but Yuki seemed interested in the class so he signed up.

While seemingly calm, Yuki felt anxious. Something about the air bothered his lungs, and he didn't like it. The band teacher welcomed everyone when the bell rang, then looked at Yuki. **"Why don't you introduce yourself?" **Yuki just stared back, trying to decode what the teacher said to him. He flipped through his cards, feeling everyone staring at him.

He saw a word he thought he heard. He used the reply under it, speaking with a slight Japanese accent. **"I am Yuki Souma."**

The conductor smiled. **"What instrument do you play, Yuki?"**

The lack of any proper honorifics made Yuki even more uneasy, because he was so used to them and without them it felt rude, but he remembered that Sawako said no one would use them here. However, Yuki didn't know what the question was. He didn't remember seeing anything like it in the cards. Sawako sat in her own chair, holding her flute nervously and looking a bit paler than normal.

**"Yuki?"**

Yuki looked back up to the teacher. He couldn't answer what was asked. It felt embarrassing. The pressure in turn made it harder to breathe, and he felt the beginning of an asthma attack until Sawako stood, looking a bit green. **"He w-wants to learn… the flute, Mr. Jefferson."** Yuki hoped the reply was for him and tried to calm his breathing and will the attack away. It worked somehow.

**"Ah, a new student. Why doesn't he reply? We can't have shyness here, you know that well, Sawako."****"He can't s-speak English." **Sawako's face was pink already and getting darker by the second. She sat down, trying to figure out why she stood in the first place. There was no need to.

**"What language does he speak?"****"J-japanese…"**

Yuki looked back and forth, having absolutely no idea what was going on. The teacher nodded, then smiled at Yuki, before starting to take attendance. Noises started up around the room. Clarinets were to Yuki's left, and the trumpets behind him were obnoxiously loud in his ear. The boy noticed Sawako approaching him as the teacher walked back to the center of the classroom to the stand at the front.

"He said you can sit next to me to learn the flute, since you don't know English, alright?"

"Okay. Thank you, Fumihiko-san."

Yuki followed Sawako to the opposite side and sat in a chair between her and another female flute player. This girl had blonde hair in a messy bun, a tee that said something unreadable to Yuki, and very brightly patterned leggings.

The band became quiet quickly, and Yuki turned to see the conductor with his hands in the air. When he counted off, it was weird how everyone knew what notes to play, as they played up and down a scale slowly. Yuki watched Sawako finger each note on her flute with interest. It was graceful how the fingers pressed each key down on autopilot. After a few minutes of the scale work, the band teacher spoke to the class, and everyone pulled out some music. As they worked through, each time Sawako played, Yuki watched her, hoping to figure out fingerings for himself, though how that would be accomplished with this method no one will know.

Sawako had noticed him halfway through practice and messed up a few notes as she blushed, feeling embarrassed.

Band practice ended with the teacher running the trombone section through a particularly nasty bar until they played it well. Everyone packed up their instruments and meandered to the door, waiting for the bell to ring. Sawako and Yuki had culinary together fifth period and both also had first lunch, so when it rang, they headed down the the cafeteria. Yuki followed Sawako as she made her way to the theatre alcove.

"You want to sit with me and my friends? We sit here in this area away from the lunch room. It's still kinda loud, but it's better in my own opinion. I don't like sitting in the lunch room with all of those loud teenagers."

"That's alright, Fumihiko-san. For someone as shy as you, it's surprising you talk as much as you do."

Sawako blushed as she sat down on the ground, legs tucked under her. A kid sat across from them with earbuds in, staring at his phone intently as he scrolled through something. Yuki sat next to Sawako as some others arrived, waving to them.

**"Sawako! And a new person!"** The girl who had just walked up to them squatted down in her jeans and looked at Yuki intently, making him very uncomfortable. Human interaction was not one of his strong suits.

**"Ah, this is Yuki. Sit down though before you fall, Lea!" **She was already teetering on her feet, so she moved sideways in front of Sawako and sat cross legged.

**"Is he cool? Hey Yuki, you cool?"** Yuki merely looked up from where he was taking out his lunch box and chopsticks. Not knowing how to respond, he simply said,** "Hi."****"He doesn't know mu-"**

"Guten tag!" Momiji ran up to Sawako and hugged her tightly, startling Lea who leaned back a bit.

"Sawa-chan! It was scary in class today! The people are mean to the teacher here. I didn't know what they were saying but it sounded rude." Momiji looked very sad when he pulled back and looked at Yuki before hugging him as well, bering cautious not to knock the food out of Yuki's hands.

**"Hey, she's cute." **Lea glanced at Noire who stood over them all, looking tired.

"When is school over?" Noire had to deal with Neptune in first period PE, then had Momiji in second period for photography. Two hyper child-like people for two hours was more than enough, especially since Noire hadn't slept much the night before due to stress.

**"English?" **Lea was confused by first Momiji and then Noire. Neither looked like they were Asian to her, but both sounded like they spoke Japanese. "Does that one speak weeb too?" Lea then pointed to Yuki, who had started to ignore everyone in favour of food.

"Sorry, you all." Sawako had an apologetic look on her face. Noire just nodded and sat down while Momiji cozied up to Sawako's side like a little kid.

**"You're speaking weeb now too! Maybe I should've taken Japanese."**

Noire and Momiji began to eat while Sawako herself got her lunch out. **"They don't know English. They hang out with me because I can translate for them." **It didn't have anything to do with them living with her, of course. Well, it was mainly because of that, but explaining that to Lea would be more trouble than it was worth.

It started getting a bit louder as what sounded like a fight rounded the corner. What approached them was instead Kyou, who had three or four cats hanging on his clothes while security followed, yelling at him about animals in the school.

"That stupid cat shares lunch with us?" Yuki muttered before continuing to eat while onlookers watched. Kyou paused when he saw Yuki look up at him before ignoring him. This pissed him off even more, so Kyou marched over with security following.

"You wanna fight, damn rat?"

"Your loss."

Kyou's face twitched, and Sawako stood in between them. "We can't fight here. It isn't like your old school. You'll get suspended. Please don't fight."

Yuki agreed, and Kyou's muscles slackened, not wanting to upset Tohru, knowing that him getting kicked out of school would make her worry. The school official was still trying to talk to him, and was quite annoyed by him.

**"I'm sorry, Ms. Lennou. At his old school, he used to have cats there, but that was in Japan. He doesn't know English, so he doesn't know that you've been telling him to get rid of the cats." **Sawako grabbed Kyou by the arm after she set her lunch down, and followed the security to the main office.

After a few minutes, Sawako came back, Kyou gone. "Apparently he went to the bathroom during gym and then the cats appeared. That's why he was out here."

No one really cared but Lea. Noire was too tired, and Momiji and Yuki were used to such things happening. But Lea couldn't understand Japanese, so Sawako had to repeat it in English.

Ten minutes had passed, and Sawako could finally eat her lunch. Besides random conversations that Lea started up, lunch was peaceful, and nothing else happened, so Sawako headed off to biology when the hallway opened. Yuki, Momiji, and Noire all followed, going to their own classes.

Fifth period culinary was also boring. Sixth period was nothing new. Sawako was taking Japanese to learn kanji, as she didn't know a whole lot yet, and the class also helped her to keep in practice. She was an unofficial teacher aid for the sensei. For some reason, Momiji was in the Japanese class. He was probably placed there by Noire to learn English the backwards way. Him and the teacher chatted for a bit before class, then Momiji came in and sat next to Sawako across from a quiet boy at her table. The teacher had Momiji introduce himself, then she took attendance. That class was okay. They did Quizlet Live, which Momiji sat out of with Sawako since they would be an unfair advantage to any team with them. Momiji worked on English for the class period before the bell rang and they went home.

As the two walked home, they met up with Neptune, Tohru, and Yuki. Kyou was walking ahead of the group, apparently staying away from Yuki, who seemed to have developed a painful sounding cough. Tohru was fretting over him, when Sawako looked down at her phone out of nowhere, and then squealed.

"My mom texted me! My parents are coming home early! Apparently they were able to settle stuff earlier than expected." Sawako was beaming from ear to ear. Tohru looked at her and also grinned.

"I get to see your Mutti? Yay!" Momiji was taking part in the excitement as he hopped up and down for a moment resembling his rabbit spirit.

"We should get home then to clean up, right?" Yuki smiled calmly, his eyes closed, and then turned back to avoid tripping on anything.

Sawako nodded. They all walked home, and eventually everyone arrived. Neptune was quite noisy when she entered, and woke up Shigure who for some reason was still asleep in the office.

Everyone got to cleaning up after they put their bags down. There wasn't much to do though. The house was kept fairly neat and tidy, so after a few minutes mostly everyone was doing homework. Momiji, Yuki, Hatsuharu, and Sawako had none as they had either finished it, or in the younger boy's cases, never got any assigned. Kyou finished fast as well, and sat in the room he was sleeping in, bored. Hatsuharu got Momiji to help out with dinner preparation, since Sawako wanted to make dumplings. The ox himself went up to try and persuade Kyou into another fight like the one they had never finished months ago. When he was successfully able to get the cat to agree, both headed into the back yard and battled. Sawako paled at the sight of both of them going at it so hard, especially when Hatsuharu went flying, but Yuki told her that it was fine. So, she kept mashing the stuff for the dumplings together, then the three in the kitchen started wrapping the dumplings in the wrappers they pulled out.

They finished awhile later. Neptune was in the front room with Nepgear playing a video game on the TV. Shigure had went back into the office and stayed the entire time, and no one knew what he was doing. Noire and IF were in the front room watching the other two, and Hatsuharu and Kyou were playfully roughhousing on the porch, both calmed down from the fight earlier. Tohru had went upstairs to gather laundry and was coming down with the bin full. She had begged Sawako to let her help with the dumplings, but there simply wasn't enough room in the kitchen for four people.

Since they finished early, Sawako put the dumplings in the fridge so they could wait another hour before steaming them all.

Momiji went out back to join the other two boys, and Yuki and Sawako sat in the back room on the floor opposite each other. Yuki coughed, sounding better than when he had left school earlier.

"Hey, Tohru-chan was worrying earlier, but are you okay? You were coughing pretty bad earlier."

Yuki didn't like seeming weak to others, so he debated whether telling her about the asthma would benefit him or not. "I had bad asthma when I was little. I don't get attacks often anymore, but something in the air bothered me."

"Ah… people do drugs here. That might be it. I apologise. You can stay home if you would like."

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Yuki gave that same smile he put on before. Sawako noticed now, looking close at him, that it wasn't a real one. It was a smile meant to make someone feel better or chase off worry. She knew it all too well. Most people didn't learn how to fake a smile, so she wondered why he knew or what made him use it. It wasn't her business though. Sawako didn't know him well, and figured if he trusts her eventually, that if something is bothering Yuki, he will tell her.

She wanted to address it however. "You don't need the false smile, you know. I can make one as well, so I can see that it isn't real happiness. We are all the same. Humans are broken and have problems. You aren't immune from that. You're just as broken as the rest of us. Some of us are just… more broken."

Yuki looked up to meet her gaze. "You said you can make a fake smile too. Why's that?"

Sawako flinched. Yuki saw her grab her arm instinctively from the corner of his eye. "I need to use the bathroom, sorry. Excuse me."

As she left the room, Yuki recalled that horror in her eyes. It was different from him, but yet, similar. He figured that when she trusts him, she will tell him.

Both of them trusted each other however. Neither wanted to admit it, but the similarities allowed them to feel like the other would understand the experience and fear one had went through. But both of them were too scared to tell each other. It was about public appearances.

When Sawako sat down again, she changed the topic. "My parents said they would be her at six. I wanna start the dumplings at four, so that by five all of them had gotten steamed, and we can eat. My mom and dad will eat out tonight, so we don't need to save any for them. Okay?"

Yuki replied. "That's all right, Fumihiko-san." Yuki had his mind elsewhere at the time anyways. He coughed into his arm, and then the back door opened, sending cold air in the direction of the boy and girl on the floor. Sawako shivered as Kyou entered and went to the front room, while Hatsuharu and Momiji joined Sawako and Yuki on the floor in the back room.

"There are big dark clouds in the sky. It looked like thunder, so we came in." When Momiji stated why they entered, Sawako forced herself to stay relaxed. She was now on high alert though. Yuki looked over his shoulder out to the now darkened sky. It was starting to sprinkle.

"I think I need to call someone. I'll be down to put the dumplings in when the timer goes off in forty five minutes. Okay?" Sawako didn't stick around for a reply before she went upstairs.

Momiji looked at Sawako and his eyes followed her out of the room. "I wanna go up!"

Hatsuharu put one arm around him to keep him seated. "She said she's making a call, stay here."

Yuki, however, left the room to go and follow her. Sawako had left her phone in her backpack since they had arrived home. Tohru called for him though, so he sat at the dining table to help her with some math.

Sawako walked swiftly down the hall to her room and then walked in, shutting the door behind her. She moved forward and flopped onto her bed, grabbing hold of her panda and hugging it tight. After a few minutes, she heard distant thunder, and tensed.

Kyou was sitting in the other room and saw her rush into the bedroom. After three separate crashes of thunder, he heard a slight whimper from her, and tried to ignore it. But all he could see was Tohru. It made him feel guilty, especially at the next whimper, so he stood up, pissed off with himself, and stomped to her room, knocking on the door.

"Hey, you, I'm coming in." He opened the door to her room slowly in case she was changing or something, but when there was no remark made, he pushed the door open all the way.

Sawako was curled into the fetal position. She had her arms wrapped around a stuffed panda, and was shaking. Another clap of thunder, louder, rang, and she tensed, whining into the plushie.

IF had walked up quietly behind Kyou and pushed past him into the room, slamming the door in his face. He was equal parts pissed and relieved. Kyou didn't know how to handle someone crying like that. But she had just shoved him aside, too. He went back to his room and sat down.

IF walked up to Sawako and kneeled at the side of the bed, her body next to Sawako's head. "Sawako?"

"I-iffy?" Sawako stuttered when she spoke, but held an unwavering tone that proved to be useless when more thunder made her cry out softly. IF put one hand on her head and rubbed gently before getting an idea and leaving the room. When she came back in, she had headphones in her hand that Neptune was protesting over from the first floor before giving up.

"Sawako, here. These might help." IF led Sawako to a sitting position, climbing up onto the bed next to her. With the headphones plugged into Sawako's phone that Yuki gave her, she put the headset over the scared girl's ears. Music was playing softly through the headphones already. IF wrapped her arms around Sawako and held her, being motherly. Having to deal with Neptune had made IF grow up a lot, so this was nothing. IF could even say she liked this.

The thunderstorm didn't last long. In the area Sawako lived in, they usually only lasted about 15 minutes before fading away or moving on. When IF thought there would be no more, she released Sawako and smiled down at her. Lifting one earpiece, she said, "It's over."

"S-sorry." Sawako was embarrassed by the fact that IF saw her like that. She rubbed unshed tears from her eyes and sniffed.

Placing a hand on her head, the guildmaster replied, "Don't be. I'll keep this a secret." IF helped Sawako to her feet, listening to the rain pounding on the roof. It was a nice, peaceful noise to listen to, and both stood for a few moments quietly to hear it. "We should go make dinner. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My eyes don't get blotchy." Sawako headed out the door first, waiting for IF, and both went downstairs. Yuki was still helping Momiji with some math. Even though the blonde boy had no homework, he wanted to learn the problems they were going over in class.

The two set to work steaming the food that Sawako had made earlier with help. Neither spoke for the entire time except when they were asking a question about the food preparation. It took the better part of an hour to steam all of the dumplings. While they started the last ones, Tohru came in and volunteered to set the table. She took out ceramic plates and set them across the table and put pot holders down to protect the wood from the hot plates. When the past dumplings were taken off the heat, IF took plates to the table and set them on pot holders. Everyone gravitated to the table when the last plate was brought out by Sawako. The short four from Gamindustri took one bench, and Kyou sat at the end. Haru sat on the bench, Momiji next to him, then Tohru, then Yuki. Sawako sat at the other end and Shigure was next to her and Neptune.

After a chorus of "Let's eat," everyone served themselves and began to dig in. Neptune complained about school and Nepgear talked with Tohru about clothing. Yuki and Kyou felt nervous about later, having a bad feeling for some reason. Shigure did too, but shrugged it off without a care, more interested in eating.

Everyone had something to say except Sawako and Yuki. Yuki was more interested in what was bugging him, while Sawako was wishing time would go faster. She finished quickly and cleaned up after herself, then took the empty plates out of the middle and started washing dishes. It was easy to clean up, and only took a couple of minutes. A few others had finished and rinsed their plates as well, setting them in the dishwasher to be cleaned. Tohru, seeing nothing to help with, took her plate over as well and rinsed it, suggesting they go upstairs and hang out on Neptune's request.

The girls all ended up in Sawako's room on the floor, moving Yuki's bedding to the side. Sawako kept looking out the window every few minutes, while everyone else took out makeup and Neptune cornered Tohru, IF behind her looking apologetic.

While Neptune slathered way too much blush onto Tohru, and Noire tried to slow her down, Sawako sat and waited. She looked out the window again, then squealed, stood, and ran down the stairs, Nepgear getting up to look out the window curiously while everyone else paused.

Shigure was in the office with the door shut, but when he heard the loud noises as Sawako thumped down the steps, he looked up, then stood to look out the office door, opening it carefully as she opened the front door so he didn't get hit. Yuki looked up from his book on the couch. The other three were gone from the front part of the house.

"Mommy! Daddy! I missed you guys so much!"

"We were only gone for a few days, Sawa. You're hyper as usual though." Her mom leaned forward and kissed Sawako's cheek delicately as her father patted her shoulder.

"It felt like ages! Was everything sorted out fine?" Sawako couldn't hide her big smile.

"Yes, sweetie." This time her dad replied.

"It is so great to have you two back! I was telling you about the others, remember? It's so weird! They all transform, except two of them. The three girls become these nice looking women, and the boys are all animals."

Shigure shared a look with Yuki from the office doorway as Yuki looked over the stair banister, standing up. Sadako had shut the door and glanced at Yuki.

"Yuki-san, these are my parents. Mom, dad, this is Yuki-san! He's one of the boys I was mentioning."

"Fumihiko-san..? Who are you talking to?"

For Sawako was standing in front of the door, in the entrance, talking to nothing but air.


End file.
